AT&S – Total success in China

Circuit World

ISSN: 0305-6120

Article publication date: 1 June 2004

79

Keywords

Citation

(2004), "AT&S – Total success in China", Circuit World, Vol. 30 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/cw.2004.21730bab.003

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2004, Emerald Group Publishing Limited


AT&S – Total success in China

AT&S – Total success in China

Keywords: AT&S, China

Technological and Asian offensive increases market shares and growth while simultaneously improving sales and results

After successfully setting up the Asian plants in India and China, the Austrian AT&S locations are now being readied for new assignments. Focus on the automotive and industrial electronics branches, as well as the prototype market is being stepped up in Styria and Carinthia. The impressive figures for the half-year confirm the AT&S strategy.

Only a few months after the new plant opened in Shanghai, AT&S had already reached 100 per cent capacity, thus attaining the break-even point earlier than planned; "Perfect work in China saved us weeks of important time over our original schedule. Our capacities in Europe and Asia are now keeping pace with the increasing number of orders", AT&S CEO Willi Dörflinger is pleased to say about the latest developments.

For AT&S, the experiences in Shanghai (China) and Nanjangud (India) are proof that the co-operative efforts among the technology- makers in the group, the plants in Styria and Carinthia and the Asian locations are working. "Today, with our top Austrian technicians and production in Europe and Asia, we are able to serve our customers all over the world and offer them not only the best in technology, but also very attractive prices", says Dörflinger about the international AT&S strategy. After 1 year of good relations between the Accessory's unit of Sony Ericsson and AT&S, AT&S has received the first order for the production of PCBs for mobile phones.

However, the strategy also includes providing demanding European customers with the usual quality from the Austrian plants, and yet with especially good and rapid service. The focus at the works in Klagenfurt, Fohnsdorf and Fehring in the coming years will be on production for the automobile industry, industrial electronics and medical technology. The group's largest plant, in Leoben, will continue to ship high-tech HDI Microvia printed circuit boards to the telecommunications market.

The AT&S half-year figures are also distinctly positive. Sales increased over the previous year from 23.4 M to 152.1 M (+18.1 per cent). Despite pricing-pressure (decreasing yet still notable), the EBIT rose to 12.3 M, an increase of 2.7 M or 28.6 per cent.

"Once again we have shown that AT&S can contend against international competition in a difficult market environment. Whereas our competitors were obliged to post losses, we have always booked profits. Thanks to fine Asian performance and strict cost management, we were able to improve our margins again in this quarter", comments Finance Manager Harald Sommerer confidently; "Over the whole year we will likely attain sales growth of 10 to 20 per cent. After this half-year we are now presuming an increase in results (profit per share) by 20 per cent", says Sommerer optimistically about the coming months.

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